1959

A recent note from Oslo brings news from Einar Kloster who had just returned from Hanover with his wife Betty, having taken their oldest daughter Anniken to matriculate with the Class of 1984. "Time flies, and apart from a brief visit in October 1977, I've not been back to Hanover since graduation. It was indeed fascinating to see the many additions that have been made to the College and, as I commented to Dick Jaeger, they all seem to blend quite well with the original architecture. I tried to meet up with Bob Watson, the proud owner of Lou's, but missed him. In many ways I sympathize with his decision to return to Hanover and respect the courage shown by his whole family in making such a move! I have personally been working with the N. V. Philips Gloielampen-fabrieken, the Dutch-based multinational known in the U.S.A. for its Noreleo shavers and the Signetics and Magnavox subsidiaries. My first seven years were spent in our Norwegian organization and then two in Holland and four in. Tokyo before becoming chief executive officer in 1974 of our East Africa subsidiary. Now I run our Norwegian organization where sales amount to $120 million and staff numbers 900. I expect to be here for another four years and then may move elsewhere."

Dennis Lacoss writes that he is now in Atlanta as a vice president with Lionel D. Edie, the investment counseling firm, where he manages a variety of investment portfolios. The Lacoss family has three children ranging in age from 16 to 12. "It is hard to believe that so much time has passed since we were in Hanover. I haven't seen any '59s recently but did see Buck Lattimore '58 who is practicing law in Atlanta."

Jon Mandaville writes from Portland State University's History Department that he has just returned from two years in North Yemen: "My lifestyle hasn't changed much. Having been in the Glee Club at Dartmouth, I have subsequently put in a stint with the chorus of the Portland Opera Company, and during the last two years in Yemen, sang roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan company there. Then there is my writing, which looms a little larger since starting Greensleeves while in Hanover. Much of my writing has been the usual academic material centering on the Middle East during the 16th century. The more readable material is published in magazines like Aramco World for whom I did a special issue on the history of Saudi Arabia and am working on another one for Yemen.

"Continuity in sports since Dartmouth isn't very obvious, but then my abilities were never very obvious either. However, I did travel to Mount Hermon as a freshman lacrosse player and am pleased to say that my eldest daughter is now attending Northfield/Mt. Hermon where she rowed crew this past fall. I continue to be footloose, usually spending my leave-of-absence traveling in the Middle East with occasional trips to the archives in Istanbul. I spent the last two years in Yemen where I set up an academic research institute to facilitate and encourage research in and about Yemen.

"Now it's good to be back in the volcano country of Oregon. I find that our trimaran is still in good shape and I look forward to long weekends out on the Columbia River as long as the freeze of winter holds off. We are still in the same late-Victorian house we've been in for the last ten years and don't figure on moving who can afford to move these days?"

Haig Kazazian reports that he is still in Baltimore at John Hopkins Hospital as professor of pediatrics and director of the genetics unit in the department. "It is a large unit which includes 12 faculty and eight postdoctoral fellows and many non-professionals. I do research in genetics, trying to apply basic findings to clinical medicine. I also teach medical students and other M.D./post-doctoral fellows, and direct a clinic involved with genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis. I have published about 60 original papers about genetics and gene action and managed to win a national award for research in pediatrics given by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1976. My wife Lilli and I have two children Haig, 15, and Sonya, 13. They are both good tennis players; Haig is state-ranked and Sonya is working at it. Lilli is a counselor in a staterun screening program for pregnant women. We're busy!"

An informative note has come from JohnGreppin who resides in Cleveland. "Daughter Sally enters St. John's College in Annapolis next year, being a National Merit Scholar. Our son Carl is a sophomore in high school. My wife Mary is a director of one of the local nursery schools. As for me, I am director of the Linguistics Program at Cleveland State University where most of my work is in Classical Armenian, though I do some Hittite and Iranian. To make a living, I teach Greek, Latin, and linguistics. My fourth book is appearing shortly and last year I founded my own journal, the Annual of Armenian Linguistics, which seems to be doing all right for a specialty journal. I travel to Europe two to four times a year and have just returned from Leningrad where I was working on a project at the Oriental Institute. I go to Leiden this fall and have spent time in Iran and India over the past couple of years. In fact, all four of us lived in Soviet Armenia for a year in a city 25 miles equidistant from the Turkish and Iranian borders. My current project is an etymological dictionary of the Indo-European components of Classic Armenian; two of eight parts have gone to press - more to do."

I saw Jim and Ginny Giddens in London in August following their vacation trip to Italy which took in Rome, Florence, Venice, and the Lake Como area. Jim works as a partner in the New York firm of Hughes, Hubbard & Reed, and Ginny is completing her last year of law school after which she will begin practicing law herself.

Please send me an end-of-the-year report.

c/o Russell Reynolds Associates 245 Park Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10017